The aim is to remove the risk of genetic faults that are carried in the mitochondria, which generate energy for human cells.
The technique, which Public Health Minister Jane Ellison announced proposals for yesterday, could potentially eliminate some fatal genetic disorders.
However, some Christian and medical ethics groups have expressed concern, mostly because the resulting embryo would have DNA from three people; two women and one man.
The resulting child would only have a very small amount of DNA from the female egg donor (around 0.1%) and would not be entitled to know their identity.
The Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt has commissioned three safety reports from the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the results of which are yet to be published.
It means that the first babies to have this technique used on them could be born as soon as October 2015.
Nola Leach is Chief Executive of Christian charity Care. She says there are a number of ethical issues which she has concerns about, adding, "We are tampering with the DNA of children":
"And it won't just affect the child who is born; it will affect every subsequent generation that comes from that child.
Rachel Kean suffers from Melas Syndrome - a disorder this treatment could potentially prevent.
Speaking about this concern she said:
"I think it's very unfounded and quite sensationalist.
"We're not talking about maternal DNA - the characteristics that make us, us.
"What we're talking about is the battery pack, which would carry down the line healthy mitochondria."
But Nola Leach argues, whilst it is important for science to push the boundaries in order to try and prevent disease, she thinks this technique is being approved too quickly:
"As Christians, of course, we want to prevent disease.
"Suffering is terrible and obviously we are talking about human suffering, so it is very difficult.
"But we are the only country that is moving forward with this particular procedure.
"Every other nation in the world is saying: this is crossing a boundary we must not cross."
Listen to the full interview with Nola Leach and Premier's Holly Powell-Jones.